Korg KPR-77 Manual

Ivo worldhack32@hotmail.com

Chris chriswareham@chriswareham.demon.co.uk

PLAYING THE INSTRUMENTS

Slide the MODE switch to "Write/Training" to play the instrument pads. You can hold down one of the ACCENT pads while playing an instrument to hear the accent effect on that sound. Pressing START/STOP while in training mode allows you to play along with the metronome.

To adjust the length of the metronome pattern:

  1. hold down the FUNC SET button
  2. press instrument pad 1-8.

To adjust the quantisation of the metronome pattern:

  1. hold down the FUNC SET button
  2. press instrument pad 11-14.

PLAYING PATTERNS

Slide the MODE switch to "Play". The KPR-77 organises its 48 patterns into three groups of 16, A, B and C.

To select a specific pattern:

  1. press the correct GROUP button (A, B or C)
  2. press the correct BASIC BANK button (1-16)
  3. press the START/STOP button.

While playing a pattern, pressing the D.C. button will immediately restart it.

Adjacent patterns in a group may be combined. For example, to combine patterns two to six:

  1. hold down the BASIC BANK button along with instrument buttons 2 and 6
  2. the legend on the display will show "CMBN"
  3. press the START/STOP button, and play will loop around the four patterns

While playing a combination of patterns, pressing the D.C. button will cause play to jump to the first pattern in the combination. Pressing the D.S. button will cause play to immediately jump to the next pattern in the combination.

WRITING PATTERNS

Slide the MODE switch to "Play". Then to select a pattern to write:

  1. press the correct GROUP button (A, B or C)
  2. hold down the correct BASIC BANK button (1-16)
  3. slide the MODE switch from "Play" to "Write/Training".

To erase the pattern:

  1. hold down the CHAIN WRITE button (which has ERASE written beneath it)
  2. the legend on the display will show "ERASE"
  3. press the STEP DOWN button (which has ALL INST written beneath it)
  4. a metronome ping will signify that it worked.

Decide whether you want Claps or Cymbals in this pattern, then:

  1. hold down the FUNC SET button
  2. press BASIC BANK button 15
  3. the legend on the display will show "CLPS" when the Claps will sound instead of a Cymbal.

Decide whether you want the Toms to be flammed or not, then:

  1. hold down the FUNC SET button
  2. press BASIC BANK button 16
  3. the legend on the display will show "FLAM" when the Toms will play a double stroke.

To set the length of the pattern:

  1. hold down the FUNC SET button
  2. press instrument pad 1-8.

To set the quantisation of the pattern:

  1. hold down the FUNC SET button
  2. press instrument pad 11-14.

If you select an invalid combination of length and quantisation, the legend on the display will show "FULL".

To write or edit a pattern in real-time:

  1. press the START/STOP button
  2. you will hear the metronome, with an accented ping on the first beat
  3. play the instrument buttons (1-16)
  4. the KPR-77 will quantize your playing according to the settings you made above.

To erase drum strokes from a pattern in real-time:

  1. hold down the CHAIN WRITE button (which has ERASE written beneath it)
  2. press the appropriate instrument button at the exact time that the pattern passes the drum stroke
  3. holding down the instrument button for a complete pass of the pattern erases that instrument entirely.

To write or edit a pattern in step-time:

  1. press an instrument button to place it in the pattern
  2. the legend on the display will flash the next step in the pattern
  3. use the STEP UP and STEP DOWN buttons to move to the location of the next drum stroke
  4. repeat the steps above until all the required drum strokes have been entered.

To erase drum strokes from a pattern in step-time:

  1. use the STEP UP and STEP DOWN buttons to move to the location of the drum stroke
  2. hold down the CHAIN WRITE button (which has ERASE written beneath it)
  3. press the appropriate instrument button for the drum stroke you wish to erase.

While in step-time mode, (ie. the pattern isn't playing) the drum strokes for a particular instrument can be viewed:

  1. hold down the BASIC button
  2. press the appropriate instrument button and the legend on the display will only show the drum strokes for that instrument.

PLAYING SONGS

Slide the MODE switch to "Play". The KPR-77 organises its 6 songs into three groups of 2, A, B and C. The two songs in a group are known as chain I and chain II.

To select a specific song:

  1. press the correct GROUP button (A, B or C)
  2. press the correct CHAIN BANK button (CHAIN I or CHAIN II).
  3. press the START/STOP button.

When the end of the chain is reached it either stops or repeats from the beginning. This depends on the CHAIN END switch. Setting it to "Fine" will cause the song to be played once, while setting it to "D.S." will cause it to repeat.

To start from a specific point in the song:

  1. hold down the D.C. button (which has BAR SELECT written beneath it)
  2. use the instrument buttons 1-10 to select the starting bar.

While playing a song, pressing the D.C. button will cause the song to restart from the beginning once it reaches the end of the current bar. If a "Start Repeat" mark was set while writing the chain, pressing the D.S. button will cause play to jump to the mark at the end of the current bar.

WRITING SONGS

Slide the MODE switch to "Play". Then to select a song to write:

  1. press the correct GROUP button (A, B or C)
  2. hold down the correct CHAIN BANK button (CHAIN I or CHAIN II)
  3. slide the MODE switch from "Play" to "Write/Training".

To enter a pattern for the first bar of the song:

  1. press the correct GROUP button (A, B or C)
  2. press the correct BASIC BANK button (1-16)
  3. press the CHAIN WRITE button, the song will advance to the next bar
  4. repeat the steps above until all but the last bar have been entered.

To enter the pattern for the last bar of the song:

  1. hold down the FUNC SET button
  2. press instrument button 16 (which has Fine/D.S. written beneath it)
  3. press the correct GROUP button (A, B or C)
  4. press the correct BASIC BANK button (1-16)
  5. press the CHAIN WRITE button.

The extra step lets the KPR-77 know this is the last bar in the song.

A section of a song can be made to repeat upto nine times. To do so, first set the starting bar:

  1. hold down the D.C. button (which has BAR SELECT written beneath it)
  2. use the instrument buttons 1-10 to select the starting bar
  3. alternatively, use the STEP UP and STEP DOWN buttons to locate the correct bar
  4. hold down the FUNC SET button
  5. press instrument button 14 (which has ||: written beneath it).

Now set the ending bar:

  1. hold down the D.C. button (which has BAR SELECT written beneath it)
  2. use the instrument buttons 1-10 to select the ending bar
  3. alternatively, use the STEP UP and STEP DOWN buttons to locate the correct bar
  4. hold down the FUNC SET button
  5. press instrument button 15 (which has :|| written beneath it).

Finally, set the number of times the section will repeat:

  1. hold down the FUNC SET button
  2. press instrument button 1-9 to set the correct number of repeats.

The location of the repeat start, repeat end and final bar of a song can be displayed. The same method can be used in either "Write/Training" or "Play" mode:

  1. hold down the CHAIN BANK button for the correct song (CHAIN I or CHAIN II)
  2. press instrument button 14 (which has ||: written beneath it) to view the repeat start location
  3. press instrument button 15 (which has :|| written beneath it) to view the repeat end location
  4. press instrument button 16 (which has Fine/D.S. written beneath it) to view the final bar location.